FEBRUARY 16, 2023 – The Department of the Air Force kicked off a $10 million next-generation energy performance contract that will deliver resilient and reliable energy at Hanscom Air Force Base Feb. 14.
The pilot project is the federal government’s first-ever effort to adopt and integrate a commercial Energy-as-a-Service, or EaaS, business model, which gives customers access to energy management services without upfront costs, to provide resilient, efficient, and cost-effective energy that will benefit an installation.
The Air Force Office of Energy Assurance is supporting this project in partnership with the Consortium for Energy, Environment and Demilitarization and its members, Eversource in partnership with Ameresco.
The team will explore an innovative EaaS model that will deliver resilient and reliable energy to installation mission owners on Hanscom AFB in a more cost-effective manner than current DAF energy management and procurement methods.
“Our partners have developed an innovative prototype that will meet the resilience and reliability needs of Hanscom with an added benefit of producing lower carbon emissions than our current system,” said Kirk Phillips, AF OEA director. “Energy resilience can often be achieved through distributed energy that can be produced on the installation and that is not tied to a supply chain.”
Eversource, the local energy provider at Hanscom AFB, is “proud to partner with Hanscom Air Force Base to deliver an energy delivery and usage model that leverages the best of today’s innovative technologies to provide resilient, sustainable energy service,” said Penni Conner, Eversource executive vice president of Customer Experience and Energy Strategy.
The sentiment was echoed by Nicole Bulgarino, Ameresco executive vice president. “We commend the leadership at Hanscom Air Force Base for their strategic vision when it comes to the Energy as a Service model,” Bulgarino said. “The unique structure of EaaS allows the base to focus on critical operations while ensuring their energy needs are met through resilient and renewable distributed energy infrastructure.”
This EaaS project will deliver mission-critical renewable energy using solar arrays and battery energy storage systems using an established Other Transaction Agreement tailored to prototyping these types of projects.
“The membership of the CEED consortium applauds the Air Force’s leadership in the use of Other Transaction Authority to help meet its installation energy needs,” said James Frankovic, president and chief operating officer of Consortium Management Group, of which CEED is a part. “The consortium looks forward to continuing its partnership with the Air Force Office of Energy Assurance to develop and demonstrate more resilient, cost-effective and cleaner power at Air Force installations across the globe.”
The Air Force EaaS pilot will span three years, which includes an initial design-build period, an operational period of at least 12 months and concludes with an evaluation and reporting period.
If successful, this prototype could potentially be replicated across other Air Force installations.
Air Force Office of Energy Assurance Public Affairs